Adversity, love, and renewal
Over the years, I have come to realize that the great truths of Scripture are not cloistered in the pages of the Bible or the walls of the Church. They are lived in our daily struggles. Easter reminds us that we, too, must pass through our own passion and death to resurrect and enjoy a renewed life. May I capitalize with quotation marks the lessons from my 1997 book, “Justice & Faith,” and update them with my own journey (as well as that of others) through passion, death, and resurrection.
“SOMETIMES, ADVERSITIES AND MISFORTUNES IN LIFE ARE PRELUDES TO GREATER VICTORIES.” Because my father could not afford the then 15-centavo bus fare from Sampaloc, Manila, I was unable to enroll in my school of choice—University of the Philippines Diliman, where I had a scholarship. I envied my classmates who made it there. Yet, God had a different path for my passion. At Far Eastern University, I was blessed to meet and be taught by a brilliant lawyer who had just been appointed law dean—Dr. Jovito R. Salonga.
He became my mentor who pushed me beyond my limits, especially when I wanted to give up on the bar exam because I was hospitalized on the first day. There was also a time when I felt embittered that I could not enjoy my masteral scholarship at Yale due to my sheer inability to pay for my airfare. I wallowed in self-pity, but in the end, I found greater triumph in seeing all my five children travel to and finish their graduate degrees in their chosen US universities. Perhaps it was also providential that I later organized my own company that assured them of travel.
In my journey from a poor newspaper boy to Chief Justice, I saw how adversity forged character. Court battles lost and won, personal bereavements, the weight of public office: each trial sharpened my sense of purpose and deepened my reliance on prayer. I have seen the same in countless Filipinos who, after calamity, rise to rebuild with quiet heroism.
“WHATEVER HAPPENS, DO NOT LOSE HEART.” During the stock market crash of 1982 in Hong Kong, I lost everything I had earned abroad. I was heartbroken enough to cause me a heart attack. In fact, many were reported to have committed suicide. Forlorn and poor again, I decided to go back to the Philippines and concentrate on my law practice.
In 1983, I joined the Rotary Club of Manila, where I met future President Fidel V. Ramos, who later appointed me to the Supreme Court in 1995. Working from that high office was never a walk in the park. After my term, I chose to continue creating new meanings in the lives of others through the Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity.
History, too, bears witness to this truth. Abraham Lincoln lost businesses, suffered devastating electoral defeats, mourned the death of his beloved, and endured a complete nervous breakdown. But through perseverance and unshakable resolve, he rose. At 60, he became President of the United States. Though tragically assassinated, he is hailed as one of the greatest leaders in history.
Some of us lose heart after only a few disappointments. But remember: No matter what happens, keep working and believing. Trust in your capacity to rise above defeat and in God’s unfailing power and providence.
“HAVE FAITH IN GOD.” During my own season of passion and death, I moved among the high and the lowly, the powerful and the weak, the glitterati and the downtrodden. I was outwardly active, yet inwardly hollow. My restless pursuits brought me no peace, no fulfillment, no sense of purpose.
My turning point came in 1986, when I found Jesus Christ and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. That encounter changed everything. I understood then that my own resurrection would be incomplete if I kept God’s goodness to myself. Since that day—though feeling inadequate and unworthy as I often do—I have taken up the mission of bringing His Word to every person I meet, quietly and humbly, never noisily and boisterously.
We know the story well: Jesus was betrayed, scourged, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, and left to die in agony. The suffering was visceral, public, and seemingly final. Hope appeared extinguished. Yet on the third day came the resurrection.
This divine pattern mirrors life itself. A pregnant woman endures months of discomfort and exhaustion. Labor brings intense pain. Yet she embraces it willingly, out of love. And the reward feels eternal at the sound of the first cry. Without pain and love, there is no new life.
In the same way, personal trials—illness, loss, failure—often become the soil from which our deeper purpose, stronger relationships, and renewed faith spring forth. Today, we pray for peace in a world shaken by a war none of us wanted, yet one that affects us all. Though our struggles differ, we collectively bear the weight of these global tensions.
The message of Easter is not despair but defiant hope. May we emerge from our suffering not merely as survivors but as victors transformed by our suffering: more loving, more resilient, more anchored in the God who conquered death itself. That is the ultimate meaning of His passion, death, and resurrection.
And that, my friends, is the eternal lesson our bleeding world desperately needs today.
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